New faculty member in 2021-22: Dr. Bill Kirkpatrick

Wed. Apr. 13, 2022

The Faculty of Arts is pleased to welcome new faculty members in several departments this year including: Criminal Justice; English; History; Political Science; Psychology; Religion and Culture; Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications; Sociology; Theatre and Film; and Urban and Inner-City Studies.

We're asking each of our new faculty members to introduce themselves by providing us with a brief profile highlighting their research, a list of courses they'll teach, and a photo. That way we'll recognize them when we meet them in the halls on campus or in Zoom meetings online.

Dr. Bill Kirkpatrick (Sociology)

Dr. Bill Kirkpatrick in Bath. (photo supplied)

Here, we feature Dr. Bill Kirkpatrick, who is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Dr. Kirkpatrick completed his PhD at University of Wisconsin--Madison and then spent twelve year working in the Communications department at Denison University, prior to coming to the University of Winnipeg.

Jonathon Franklin, Chair of the Department of Sociology, states: "Dr. Bill Kirkpatrick has been a great addition to the Sociology department. Dr. Kirkpatrick's expertise in Media and Cultural Studies is very topical when viewed against the current discussions of the corporatization of the media. Dr. Kirkpatrick is a very engaging public speaker and is building quite a following among Sociology students. While we should question the lens in which the media portrays the world around us, there is no question that Dr. Kirkpatrick has already created his own niche in the Sociology department.

Please join us all in welcoming Dr. Kirkpatrick to the Faculty of Arts. And thank you to him for providing his profile info and photo.

Biography

Bill Kirkpatrick grew up outside of Washington, D.C. and went to college in New York, dreaming of following in the musical and artistic footsteps of Lou Reed and Andy Warhol. Instead, after a semester abroad in Zurich, he moved to Switzerland and worked for Swissair (in daily operations and logistics--as far as imaginable from music and arts). After eight years, he returned to the U.S. for graduate school, developing a fascination for the role of media in society. There he met his wife, Anna Nekola, a musicologist and oboist.  

Following a brief visiting position at the University of Michigan, Bill was hired in the Communication department at Denison University, a small liberal arts college outside of Columbus, Ohio. After twelve years at Denison, Anna received an offer to teach at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, so they flipped roles and Bill became the "trailing spouse." Fortunately, the Sociology department at the University of Winnipeg has been unbelievably gracious and generous, giving Bill full-time teaching opportunities, and he has enjoyed the best teaching experiences of his career working with U of W students. He and Anna live in Wolseley with their cat Desmond.

Degrees

PhD – University of Wisconsin--Madison
MA – University of Wisconsin--Madison
BA – New York University

Courses

In addition to Introduction to Sociology, Bill teaches a range of courses pertaining to his expertise in media and technology, law and policy, disability and medicine, and sexuality and the body.

Publications and research interests

Bill's scholarship focuses on the intersections of media and disability. He is co-editor of Disability Media Studies (New York University Press, 2017), an anthology bringing media studies and disability studies into dialog. Currently he is completing a monograph on early radio and the medical profession. Other publications include articles in Communication, Culture, and Critique; Critical Studies in Media Communication; Television & New Media; Radio Journal; the International Journal of Communication; and several anthologies.